Liu Yu mistakenly believed that Chen Xiang had been defiled by him, and thus agreed to marry her. However, Chen Xiang had actually been defiled by the Fourth Prince, so Liu Yu had no reason to feel guilty.
Therefore, Liu Yu knelt down and confessed: "Since Miss Chenxiang was not harmed by Liu Yu, Liu Yu will not marry her. On the thirteenth of August, Liu Yu was intoxicated and defiled a woman. I hope Your Majesty will thoroughly investigate the truth and punish Liu Yu."
The Empress was in a dilemma; if the truth were revealed, the Prince Hong's mansion would surely face a great calamity.
In order to investigate the events of August 13th, the Empress brought Zhao Shuyuan's two children from the Prince Hong's residence into the palace to raise, intending to make Zhao Shuyuan obedient and compliant.
Zhao Shuyuan revealed the truth: On August 13th, Prince Hong gave Shen Yu two secret letters, intending to bring down the Gao family. However, in order to retaliate against Bai Yehua, Prince Hong ordered Zhao Shuyuan and her servant to kidnap Shen Yu and use Liu Yu to ruin her reputation.
If it is discovered that the Prince Hong's residence drugged Liu Yu, wouldn't that damage the royal family's reputation? It's truly one problem after another; we still don't know how to report the matter of the Fourth Prince to the Emperor.
Thinking of this, the Empress's face was full of sorrow.
Shen Yu noticed the Empress's strange behavior and looked at Liu Yu, advising, "Young Master Liu is out of his mind after drinking. Perhaps he is having delusions and mistaking illusions for reality."
Liu Yu shook his head, "No, that woman might be a maid from the Prince Hong's mansion. I smelled the fragrance that day and later found the incense to verify it. It was true, and... there were two people..."
Upon hearing Liu Yu recount the events of that day and confirm that what he said was true, the Empress immediately changed the subject: "As the saying goes, a forced marriage is never sweet. Since Liu Yu is unwilling to marry Chenxiang, then let him go to Qinghe County to take up his post first. Chenyu, you should quickly return to the Mu family and tell your mother that I have agreed to let Chenxiang marry the Fourth Prince."
Thus, Liu Yu left prison in a daze and, together with Madam Jia and Yanran, went to Qinghe County to take up his post.
The carriage drove out of the west gate of the city and stopped after a short distance.
Liu Yu lifted the curtain and saw a young master already sitting next to Liu the guard, while another young master slipped under his arm into the sedan chair and sat beside him. Although it was dark, he recognized at a glance that this young master was Chen Yu in disguise.
He didn't make a fuss. Madam Jia and Yanran both looked at Chenyu with suspicion, assuming that this young master knew Liu Yu.
Shen Yu lifted a corner of the curtain, instructed Guard Liu to continue forward, and turned back to find herself sitting with Liu Yu. Ignoring everything else, she had urgent business to discuss with Liu Yu; she feared the Empress's people might be watching her within the city, so she had disguised herself as a man and waited for him outside.
"Young Master Liu, there is indeed something strange about this matter..."
As soon as she spoke, Madam Jia realized what was happening and pointed at her, urging her to leave, "Mu Chenyu, get out of here! I've already severed ties with you, why bother me? Get out!"
"Mother, please don't make things difficult for me, considering that I treated my older brother..."
Chen Yu ignored him, and because she couldn't see Liu Yu's face clearly, she boldly approached Liu Yu and whispered, "Young Master Liu, if you want to find out the truth, you can seek out my uncle."
“Don’t you dare incite my son to take risks. It is you and your uncle who caused my son to be imprisoned twice.”
“My uncle has been deceived. It is likely that the Hong Prince’s mansion has been taken over by someone, and all the evidence is probably fabricated. If it weren’t for Hongyu exposing the Fourth Prince’s crimes, I’m afraid no one would know that the Fourth Prince had ever been to the Hong Prince’s mansion. Besides, I put Young Master Liu in prison to help him get medical treatment. Do you know that Young Master Liu has a laceration on his forehead and the injury is serious? If he accidentally gets tetanus, he could die.”
At this moment, Lady Jia was already in tears, but she still stubbornly said, "My family's affairs are none of your business. Get out of here!"
Having achieved her goal, Chen Yu stopped arguing, left hastily without saying goodbye to Liu Yu.
As she approached the Dali Temple, she saw its gates wide open, and in the bright light, Yan Wang helped Hongyu board the carriage.
Her face darkened with anger, and her breathing became heavy. Hongyu's exposure of the Fourth Prince's evil deeds undoubtedly ruined Chenxiang's reputation. If Chenxiang were to become distraught because of this, he would surely attempt suicide again.
Just then, a masked woman hurriedly slipped into the sedan chair of Prince Yan's residence.
Although she couldn't see the veiled woman's face clearly, based on her figure and clothing, she concluded that the veiled woman must be Chenxiang. Thinking of how Chenxiang had just gone to the prison with Hongyu, she couldn't help but feel suspicious; it seemed that the two had some unspeakable secret.
So she hid nearby and waited.
Cuiwei asked, "Miss, is the veiled woman the Second Miss?"
"Yes, we'll go back with her once she comes out."
"Does the young lady find anything strange? The Fourth Prince actually assaulted the Second Miss in front of everyone. The yamen runners, servants, and prisoners all witnessed it, and even everyone in the entire prison heard the Fourth Prince's shouts. Given the Second Miss's personality, she should have stayed at home and avoided this situation. Why did she come out?"
Shen Yu was also puzzled and became even more convinced that Hong Yu had instigated Chen Xiang.
Before long, Chenxiang alighted from the carriage at the Yan Prince's residence and headed towards the Mu family's residence. Chenyu followed behind and returned to the Mu family's residence.
It was already dark when she was about to step through the gate when someone called out to her, "Sister."
Looking back, she saw Heyuan Garden. Overjoyed, she quickly went down the steps and took Heyuan Garden's hand.
"Why are you here? Come inside and let's talk."
He Yuan shook her head, took out a prescription and handed it to Chen Yu, "Sister, just now the Seventh Prince brought the imperial physician to visit Bai Yejing, and the imperial physician prescribed this prescription. Sister, please take a look and see if there are any problems?"
Shen Yu quickly took it and examined it closely in the light. Wasn't this medicine for treating bone injuries? She hurriedly asked, "The prescription is fine. Is Ye Jing's bone fractured?"
"Yes, Ye Jing's shoulder is fractured. The imperial physician has already set it in place, and he needs to rest for a while. He Yuan came here to ask my sister if we could give Ye Jing some money during his recovery period?"
“Of course, Ye Jing is a member of the Bai family. My sister is calm and composed and doesn’t need to report to me. Besides, when I handed over the family seal to you, you became the matriarch of the family, and you were in charge of the affairs of the Bai family.”
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